LIFE IS A CIRCUS is a sorry cinematic epitaph for the once great British comedians The Crazy Gang. Live on stage they were spontaneous, ludicrous and often hilarious - the forerunners of The Goons and Monty Python: but in this tedious fiasco they sadly look well past their sell-by date. However, as terrible as the movie is, it's still a valuable curio, only the Gang's fifth in 20 years. The minuscule storyline, slipshod direction and geriatric leading performers make this a woeful experience, even in 1958 it looked dated. I had a similar feeling in 1962 when Bing and Bob went on THE ROAD TO HONG KONG. The wafer thin plot centres on The Crazy Gang's attempts to save Joe Winters Monster Circus from closing down, it is in such a sorry financial state that the boss cannot pay the circus hands, so they all quit , except the cleaners (The Crazy Gang). These unlikely performers do their best to put on a show, but fail miserably and the circus looks doomed. Bud Flanagan meets his old pal Chesney Allen "Underneath the Arches" as he's sheltering from the rain and buys a cart load of junk off him for a pound. When Bud cleans a lamp from the cart, a genie appears and grants Bud any wish he desires, but the incompetent genie messes up every wish. This quickly becomes tiresome, especially when the genie produces chandeliers 'borrowed' from Windsor Castle, when Bud had only wished for lights for the circus. Side splitting stuff! There are many things wrong with this movie, the most obvious being it's not in the slightest bit amusing. I guarantee you won't laugh once during the whole sorry 90 minutes.Val Guest wrote the screenplay and also directed the whole mess, so I guess it's all his fault: you would think he couldn't stoop any lower than this, but 15 years later he scripted CONFESSIONS OF A WINDOW CLEANER. Michael Holliday, a popular crooner of the day, sings a few Crosby-like melodies and romances the gorgeous Shirley Eaton, who is completely wasted in this 'comedy'. Joseph Tomelty, as the circus boss, is grating as he constantly moans lines like "For the love of Pete - what's going on here?". Be warned, the 'n' word is used for supposedly comic effect. The only reason I gave this ridiculous rubbish one star was because of the antics of a young Oliver Reed. Look out for him as an extra as a side show spectator. He camps it up wonderfully as Holliday croons the title song. Bud Flanagan recorded the theme tune to DAD'S ARMY just before his death in 1968.
Review of Life Is a Circus
